NASA’s Mars Lander has transmitted a photograph of a super-sized dinosaur standing on the surface of Mars

There’s life on Mars — and it’s enormous!

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has transmitted a photograph of what appears to be a super-sized dinosaur standing menacingly on the surface of the Red Planet — and shocked scientists say the discovery has overturned “everything we thought we knew about extra-terrestrial life.”

The space agency has delayed releasing the stunning news to the public pending a full analysis of the available data. But Dr. Simon Wycoff, an astrobiologist serving as a consultant to the Phoenix project, has agreed to reveal what little is known about the humongous reptile and the implications of the staggering find.

In an exclusive interview with Weekly World News writer Garrett Hawley, Wycoff says the creature resembles the Earth dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex, but is at least three times larger than the ferocious predator.

WWN: Why is the dinosaur so much bigger than any dinosaur fossils found on Earth?WYCOFF: The relative lack of gravity on Mars allowed the beast to grow so large. Earth’s stronger gravity would cause any creature that big to collapse under its own weight.WWN: Is the dinosaur the only one of its kind?WYCOFF: That’s highly unlikely. We assume they’ve been breeding there for millennia.WWN: What do the dinosaurs eat?WYCOFF: Each other. Members of their own kind would be their only source of nutrition. They are cannibals.WWN: Is there any way to estimate their population?WYCOFF: Not until we explore the planet. Even then, it will be difficult to get an exact count because of the lack of light and the uneven terrain of the Martian surface.WWN: How did the dinosaurs get there?WYCOFF: At this point, your guess is as good as mine. One theory is that microscopic living organisms were transported throughout the solar system by comets. On that account, life on Earth began when one of these comets deposited organic material on our planet after crashing into it. The same phenomenon could have occurred on Mars.WWN: Dinosaurs became extinct on Earth 70 million years ago. Why have they survived on Mars?WYCOFF: The dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the Earth by a massive asteroid impact. Apparently, Mars escaped a similar calamity.WWN: President Bush has vowed to establish a human colony on Mars. What does this discovery do to that plan?WYCOFF: It puts the kibosh on it, I should think. A human expedition to Mars would involve a maximum of six or seven astronauts. They wouldn’t make more than a tasty hors d’oeuvre for creatures this size. It would be folly to spend upwards of $50 billion to send humans to Mars just to have them eaten by a dinosaur. The American taxpayer would never stand for it.